Florida Neighborhood Evacuated

Residents in a central Florida neighborhood have been forced to evacuate due to massive sinkholes that have formed over the last week. At least a dozen sinkholes have developed in the Wynchase neighborhood of Ocala, Florida, according to local media reports. The holes have been forming around a retention pond.

Residents from at least eight homes close to the pond were evacuated, with no clear indication of when they might be able to return home, according to ABC affiliate WFTV. One resident, Maren Pinder, said the holes just seem to keep popping and they’re getting larger and larger. It’s put the entire community on edge, she said.

The Ocala Fire-Rescue Department said it responded to the Fore Ranch subdivision in Wynchase last Wednesday to investigate reports of large holes opening up on the shore of the retention pond.

“The cause may be linked to a private irrigation water main break. Units adjacent to the area have been evacuated as a safety precaution,” the department said in a statement last Wednesday, but the holes have multiplied and some have overlapped and/or intersected since then.